Keira. . .

Keira the other day as I was putting her to bed I asked her " Do you know Mommy loves you?" She said " Yes and Daddy loves me and Jesus loves me.  Jesus Loves Keira, and He has a picture of Jesus and Keira. I have Daddy and I have Jesus, I have 2 Daddy's. Jesus is my Daddy too!" It felt like Holy ground.   Keira loves Jesus, and talks about Him often.  She told a woman at the gym that she knows Jesus, she met Him at church and that this woman should come to church with her! 
I woke her from a nap yesterday and she sat up and said " Here you go" handing me an imaginary something, I asked what it was and she said " Oh, its Honey. Jesus and I are just having a pic-nic!"

In her sleep Keira was hanging out with Jesus and invited me to sit at a "table" with them.  Here my daughter is communing with Jesus in her own way.

My daughter invited me to spend time with her and Jesus! 

I think it is particularly striking to me because it is hard as a busy Mom to have those special  "quiet times" the way they were BC ( Before Children).  But being with Jesus now is being with Keira and teaching her while she teaches me.
I just wanted to share a glimpse of what ministry is like in our home.

Chrissy

From: a window into DiCoccoville: moving day -

Check a friends blog about what we have been working on the last few days.

a window into DiCoccoville: moving day -

Thanks Bill & Trace for your hearts and partnership.

I need you, You need me. . .

I have been recently thinking that our lives are not that extraordinary. . .
The more that I experience everyday life here: do the dishes, visit my neighbor, have people over,  have challenging conversations, visit friends, being challenged by Keira, cook dinner, play with Keira. . . I feel like wow, my life isn't that odd or different.
(Okay, granted I do live in a community that many people here would not choose to live in. )
Life isn't boring that is for sure.
When I look at Jesus' life in a nut shell,  ( which is hard to do by the way) He ate, He visited, He slept, He challenged norms, convicted hearts, and He brought people with Him to do all these things. . . It was an extraordinary life! But it had a lot of ordinary in it.  He often used the ordinary to bring teaching and exhortation.  I like that about Jesus.
I love that I can "do life" with people and it can make a difference for all involved, that is how community was designed. For example...
The pictures from our last post were taken at a Birthday party that we went to.  A woman in our discussion group wanted to celebrate her birthday by having a kids party at an AIDS children's home, so we all went and played hard and had a wonderful time with the kids.  At the end one of the women who worked at the home sang to the birthday "girl". But she sang this song:
I need you, you need me
We're all a part of God's Body
Stand with me, agree with me
We're all a part of God's body
It is His will that every need be supplied
You are important to me
I need you to survive.

Now to be honest, up until that moment I had previously found that song to be rather . . . cheesy.  But I think its because I had not seen so closely what it could mean to be a part of God's body and what surviving looks like, what we actually need to survive, not just food water and shelter, but each other.  Connection. Relationship.
It just feels rather striking to me in the South African context how many people are struggling to survive because they are not recognized by others as being human, and as an important part of the well being of all.
Shalom, Ubuntu, I am OK because you are OK, if you are not OK then I am not either.
It feels rather daunting to think about what it would take to have all people living this principal truth but I guess its just one relationship at a time.
Your friend,
Chrissy